juniperoo22

It's finally September so that means it must be application season again, right? No? Still too early? I'm going for my master's in Counselor Education/Student Affairs and this is also not my first rodeo. I'm a seasoned veteran at this point, but not for any lack of trying on my own part. I got my MFA in Communication Arts in 2013, but have applied for a variety of CED/HE/SA programs since then. I've been accepted to (but ultimately did not attend) Indiana, Syracuse, UNCG, and UPenn. The funding never came through, so this time around I'm casting a wider (and slightly less competitive) net in hopes someone will toss some funds my way, or I can pay in-state tuition rates. Good luck to all! Let the obsessing begin! J

When I took the GRE, I prepped for about a week beforehand and just went with my gut on answers. Bombed the Quant section (like, seriously, it was a disaster), but did really well with the Verbal and Writing (former Humanities major and Latin nerd, so no surprise there). I decided not to re-take it because I knew there was no way I could bring up the Quant enough for it to really matter. If you feel really confident that with some studying, you could bring up your scores by a few points, then by all means, re-take it. You may feel better a second time around now that you know what you're in for. As for me, once was more than enough, so I took my scores and ran!

3stars, you're right in that "decentralized" is definitely a good way to describe the process. I'm not saying that there aren't plenty of assistantships to choose from, because there totally are! Anyone could easily find something in their interest area. It's just that each assistantship does not come with the same base funding package, so it can make it a little more confusing (in a process that's already confusing enough, in my opinion). Not only are you weighing which assistantship fits your interests, you also may end up weighing which fits your financial needs, too. And just a note -- I think that some people could really do well in a bigger cohort size, and it seemed like most prospective students were pretty excited. But I'm definitely an introvert, so I was really overwhelmed. This may be a personality thing, though. If you like big, boisterous groups, Indiana is a good place for that!

I found this directory really helpful when I was narrowing down programs: http://apps.naspa.org/gradprograms/search.cfm You can choose to search by area of focus, which includes counseling and student learning/development. It may be a good place to find more programs!

Hi 3stars -- You're smart to put funding high on your list of important criteria. I'm not so sure I did that the first time around, and it really came back to haunt me! I'm hoping this application season I may have some options that are more realistic. I had a mixed experience with Indiana, to be honest. The campus culture and other students, faculty, prospectives were really friendly and inviting, but the outreach weekend and the admissions/assistantships application process was disorganized. I felt that they didn't do a great job being pro-active at giving prospective students information. Anytime I needed something, I had to constantly initiate contact, and follow up, and hound them about getting back to me. The cohort was also really huge, so it felt pretty impersonal at times. It may have been that I was expecting so much from such a highly ranked school. Their funding packages are also a grab bag -- some didn't even include tuition remission, and many required you to commute to Indianapolis for the assistantship. It still seemed like a solid university, so that's why I kept it on my list this time around. Michigan girl -- I've looked at some of those programs for a while, and am in the process of applying to UVA's program. As far as the others, George Mason I eliminated because of location, which I know may sound a bit absurd. However, I know the area pretty well, and I don't think it would be a good fit for me. Old Dominion's academics weren't quite what I was looking for, as the prospect of a doctoral degree is still something I may be interested in. (I think their entrance undergrad GPA was 2.5, and I'm well above that.) I'm on the fence about Virginia Tech, as I've heard good things but am still waffling a bit on whether or not I want to add another school to my application list.

I'm on my second round of HE/SA applications, as I got in several places last year, but ultimately did not get funding or an assistantship. Last year, I applied to: Indiana (accepted, interviewed, no assistantship) Syracuse (accepted, interviewed, no assistantship) UPenn (accepted, no funding, declined) U Minnesota (rejected) This year, I'm adding some schools in my home state of Virginia to the mix in hopes that if I get accepted, I won't have to sell my kidney for out-of-state tuition: UVA James Madison University William & Mary

Hi, everyone! I'm a long time lurker, first time poster going into my second round of applications to master's programs in HE/SA. Last year, I applied to only out-of-state programs, and although I got accepted into a few and attended outreach weekends at Indiana and Syracuse, I ultimately wasn't lucky enough to clinch funding/assistantships at any university. I was allowed to defer my admission at IU and Syracuse for a year, and am now applying to some in-state schools in my home state of Virginia that won't break the bank if I don't get an assistantship. I really fell in love with Syracuse last year, but attending without any financial support was completely out of the question. That said, I was curious if anyone else was crazy (or foolish) enough like me to attempt grad school applications a second time around? I feel wiser for the wear, but still have a lot of worries that I may be wasting my time. Any thoughts, suggestions, commiserating would be great. Also, I got to know the admissions process/outreach atmosphere for both Indiana and Syracuse really well last year, so if anyone has any questions about those specific schools, please let me know and I'll be happy to help if I can! Thanks for putting up with my noobness, and good luck to everybody! J